


The Reluctant Pygmalion

by Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Greek and Roman Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 09:22:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7971628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw/pseuds/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Carmilla is a statuesque beauty, and in which Laura puts a lot of work into their relationship.</p>
<p>Retelling of the Pygmalion and Galatea myth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Reluctant Pygmalion

**Author's Note:**

> Slight tweaking of ages so that everyone is still at school while Laura is a senior, probably, or maybe all the older girls are pursuing graduate work. 
> 
> Basically ignores the plot, but all the characters are basically the same, and Silas is still a freaky place.

Laura awoke to two pains in the neck: one literal, and one figurative. She popped up off the floor easily enough, only wincing a little. “Who are you, what are you doing here, _why are you naked_ , and,” she gasped as she noticed the empty pedestal, “ _WHAT DID YOU DO_ to my final project?!”

The naked girl, who was sprawled sideways across an armchair with a book in her hands, snorted. “You don’t recognize me?”

Laura’s face drains of color. “We didn’t hook up, did we? Because I’m really sorry, I don’t usually get blackout drunk, and I try to at least remember the names of people I fuck,” which earned her an amused raised eyebrow, which jarred Laura enough to make her stop and think. “Oh. You’re…”

***

“Remind me again why you’re taking ‘Sculpting the Human Form’?” LaFontaine wrinkled their nose at Laura. They had taken Anatomical Drawing to satisfy their fine arts requirement and never looked back.

“It doesn’t really fit in with the journalism degree,” Laura admitted. “But I took a sculpting class as a freshman and really liked it!” Her face fell. “And then I took like eight more, and now I need to do a massive creative project to complete my double major. But it shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

“Laura,” Perry began cautiously, “last time we talked, you hadn’t picked out a model yet.” The students in the class had been required to submit a proposed model when they enrolled in the class because of the length of time the project would take.

“I think I found one, actually,” Laura beams. “There’s this old painting that hangs in the philosophy building of a young woman--I think she must have donated a lot of money a couple hundred years ago.”

“Karnstein Hall? I thought that place was haunted. Like, even by Silas standards.” LaF’s offhand comment makes Perry cringe.

“I’ll be fine.” Laura tries to convince herself as much as her friends. “It’s not like it’s possessed by the ghost of the woman or anything.” She frowns. “Okay, that actually does seem pretty likely. But still! As long as I don’t make her angry, right?” She sighs at her friends’ dubious looks. “I’ll call if I need help.”

***

“You’re the girl from the painting.”

“Carmilla, Countess Karnstein.” The girl’s voice was somehow lofty and mocking at the same time. “But please, don’t stand on ceremony on my behalf, buttercup.” She turned another page of _Godel, Escher, Bach_. 

“But she was dead! And the statue was dead! Not-alive? And now you’re--” Laura spluttered with frustration. 

“Undead, for those of us keeping score at home,” she remarked, as though this was the most natural thing in the world. “Thanks for the snack, by the way.”

Laura’s hand flew up to her neck. “Y-you bit me?”

Her bare shoulders shrugged infinitesimally. “I was thirsty. Vampire. Oops?”

“But why are you a vampire?”

“ _You’re_ the one who decided to use marble, cupcake,” Carmilla replied, as though this is all Laura’s fault. 

***

Laura took a break from sketching to skim the explanatory plaque beneath the full-length portrait. “Carmilla Karnstein, benefactress of Silas University, sudden violent death,” she shuddered. “Kind of creepy.” She looked up at the portrait. “You look almost normal, though. Wonder what happened to you.” 

The girl was a classic beauty--the pale skin and strong features would translate well into marble, she thought. The rest of the body was covered up, but even through the antiquated clothing she could get a strong sense of how Carmilla carried herself. And, well, it wasn’t like she was a stranger to the female form. “You’re going to be beautiful,” she told the portrait, then shook her head. “Now who’s creepy?”

***

“So let me get this straight: because you got yourself murdered, your spirit hung around the campus, and then, when I sculpted you, it attached itself to the statue and brought it to life. Well, undeath.” It was amazing what sorts of things Laura found herself able to accept after four years at Silas and with a TARDIS-mug-full of hot chocolate in her stomach. 

“Pretty much.” The now-abandoned paperback was still Carmilla’s only concession to modesty, but hey, baby steps, right? “I gotta thank you for doing such a good job, by the way.” She gave her breasts an experimental squeeze; Laura’s eyes flicked down. “Everything’s just as I remember it. Which reminds me: how did you know to get the scar right?” Her eyes bored (unfairly) into Laura’s.

***

The block of marble was perfect for her needs: just the right size and color. Laura chipped happily away, trying to make it match her clay model. First larger chunks to get the rough outline down, then smaller pieces as the approximation became better and better. Her back ached with the effort, and she welcomed each night’s sleep.

“Looking good,” Danny noted. “Well, you look like shit, actually--I keep telling you to take better care of yourself.”

“It’s not going to get done otherwise,” Laura said, shaking her head. “I just have to figure out how to deal with this freaking flaw. Right in the middle of her chest.”

Danny chewed on this for a moment, squinting at the defect. “What about a scar?”

Laura’s eyes lit up. She would totally have hugged Danny, but the breakup was a bit too fresh for that. “Thanks, Danny,” she managed instead. “Do you mind if I?..”

“Just take care of yourself.” The much-taller woman tousled Laura’s hair. “Promise?”

“I promise.” But Laura’s attention was already on the stone figure and her tools.

***

“Okay, that’s a little random,” Carmilla deadpanned. (Undeadpanned?) “But hey, fate’s complicated like that.”

“Fate?”

Carmilla shrugged. “Well, you’re not a witch.”

“Nope.”

“So there are only so many forces powerful enough to do something like this, even at Silas. Fate. Love.”

“Well, I definitely don’t love you,” Laura scoffed. “I mean, you ruined my final project, you’ve been nothing but rude, and you still aren’t wearing any clothes.”

“Fate, then.” Carmilla looked Laura up and down. “I can work with that.”

***

“Well, Danny and I finally called it quits today,” Laura said, then paused. “Is it weird that I’m talking to a statue?” 

Carmilla’s rough-hewn face looked blankly at her. 

“That’s probably a yes. Well, whatever. Hopefully we can still be friends.” She removed another chip of marble. “Especially since she’s friends with Perry and LaFontaine and Kirsch, and it would make things really weird, and it’s just as well that I have someone to talk to who isn’t part of this whole mess. Even if she can’t talk back. And given that I’m doing enough talking for two, it’s probably just as well.”

Was it her imagination, or did the statue’s lips curve up into a smirk? That hadn’t been part of the original design. Maybe it was the marble speaking to her. Or the lack of sleep. Frilly hell.

***

“So, now what?” Laura asked. “You’re a vampire that used to be a sculpture. Where do you go from there? And more importantly, what am I going to submit to my professor?”

“Did you take any pictures?” Laura raised an eyebrow at the anachronism. “What? Just because I’ve been dead doesn’t mean I haven’t been paying attention.”

“Of course I took pictures. Hang on, are they going to come out? What with the whole vampire thing?”

“That’s a myth. I also do not sparkle.” She waited a beat. “You have to have more quartz inclusions in the marble for that.”

Laura groaned. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“How the hell should I know? Just because I am a magic statue-vampire doesn’t make me an expert on the topic.” Her ankles cross attractively (wait, what? Laura thought), then uncross to bounce, bored, against the side of the armchair. “Anyway, just tell your professor the truth. I’m sure this isn’t the first time something like this has happened at Silas.”

“You’re impossible.” Laura gritted her teeth at the girl’s nonchalance.

“And yet, here I am.” Carmilla smirked and rested her hands behind her head. Which, of course, gave Laura an eyeful. “What? Nothing you haven’t seen before. Or lovingly touched.” Her eyes sparked seductively.

***

“Well, you’re almost done,” Laura muttered, polishing her final project. “And not a moment too soon--I’ve already gotten one extension.” It felt a little scandalous to be rubbing a fine cloth all over the nude body of the stone figure, but it’s not like she could feel it, right? 

It didn’t help matters that she had filled in some of the proportions and the details based on what she daydreamed her ideal girl might look like, pulling from first-hand experience and other pictures. Other, less-clothed pictures. Thank god for incognito browsing.

So, yes, she may have been energetically caressing her own personal wet dream. In the middle of a sunlit studio, which was just plain weird. “Such are the sacrifices we make for art,” Laura muttered.

*** 

“So, can we please get you some clothing now?”

“Why would I want to get dressed when there are so many things we could be doing naked?” Carmilla teased.

“Are you hitting on me?” Laura’s jaw dropped. “Wait, have you been hitting on me this whole time?”

“Stake me now,” Carmilla moaned. “I mean, I know I’ve been a disembodied spirit for three hundred years, but I didn’t realize my technique had gotten that rusty.”

“I, um.” Laura fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. “Maybe we should get to know each other a little better first? And maybe not right in the middle of the studio?” She shifted from one foot to the other. “I think there’s a spare smock? And then we can look at some of my dresses back at my dorm room?”

“You’re so cute when you’re nervous,” Carmilla said, springing to her feet. “Smock me.” She winked and kissed Laura’s gaping mouth.

Well, okay, Laura thought. This could be the start of something.

**Author's Note:**

> I literally wrote this all in one spurt late last night. And it's my first fic in this fandom. So feedback greatly appreciated.


End file.
